On May 16, 2016, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Margot Robbie had been working on a Harley Quinn spin-off film from Suicide Squad. Robbie brought in a screenwriter whose later revealed to be Christina Hodson, into the fold when bringing the project in to Warner Bros. It was said to feature not just Harley, but also more female heroines and villains, such as the Birds of Prey, and Gotham City Sirens.[1] During the press for Suicide Squad when asked about the project Robbie confirmed that nothing was set in stone yet but she's trying to make it happen. On Sept 14, 2016, the project was officially greenlit by Warner Bros. after signing a deal with Robbie and her company LuckyChap Ent.[2] On November 11, 2016 Christina Hodson was announced to be writing a Birds of Prey project by The Wrap. [3] On April 17, 2018, after Hodson was announced to be writing Batgirl from her Birds of Prey script, Cathy Yan was announced to be the film's director, with Margot Robbie, Sue Kroll, and Bryan Unkless producing. Casting will be announced soon. [4][5][6] The film will introduce Huntress, Black Canary, Cassandra Cain, and Renee Montoya.[7] On August 6, 2018, The Wrap reported that the film's villain will be Black Mask. [8] On September 20, 2018 The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline reported that the shortlist for Birds of Prey includes Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jurnee Smollet-Bell, and Janelle Monae for Black Canary. Sofia Boutella, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Margaret Qualley, and Cristin Milioti for Huntress. Justina Machado, and Roberta Colindrez for Renee Montoya. [9][10] On September 24, 2018, The Hollywood Reporter announced that the film was to be released on February 14, 2020, but was moved up a week to February 7, 2020. [11][12] On September 26, 2018, Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were announced to have been cast as Black Canary and Huntress. [13][14] On October 3, 2018, Rosie Perez was announced to have joined the cast as Renee Montoya. [15][16] On October 25, 2018, Matthew Libatique announced he would be the cinematographer for the film. [17] On November 1, 2018, Ewan McGregor was announced to have joined the cast as Black Mask. [18][19][20][21] On November 14, 2018, newcomer Ella Jay Basco was announced to have joined the cast as Cassandra Cain. [22][23] The stunt team behind the John Wick films, Atomic Blonde, and Aquaman will work on the stunts for Birds of Prey.

Production is said to start at the end of the year. [24][25][26] Filming will begin in January of 2019. [27] Filming will commence in Los Angeles, California in January under the working title Fox Force Five. [28][29][30]

Margot Robbie has been secretly working on this project and trying to get it off the ground with WB for over 3 years, since she got the role of Harley Quinn. Gotham City Sirens, and Harley Quinn vs The Joker were projects WB put foward and gave Robbie executive credit for GCS before officially greenlighting Birds of Prey. [31]